


Baby Shower Debris

by Sg1sjshipper



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:40:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25569883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sg1sjshipper/pseuds/Sg1sjshipper
Summary: Sam and Cameron are both being considered to head the SGC. Someone doesn't want that to happen.
Relationships: Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill
Comments: 4
Kudos: 35





	Baby Shower Debris

Baby Shower Debris  
Finished for Ship Day 2020. All mistakes are mine!  
This takes place a few years after the series ended.

Sam hung up the phone. “That was the SGC. They got here a few minutes ago and are headed to the infirmary for their medical check.”  
“I’ll go pick them up.” He kissed her on the cheek. “This place looks amazing. You’ve done a great job.”  
“Don’t you dare ruin the surprise.”  
Jack twisted his fingers in front of his lips, simulating a key turning in a lock. “Not a word.” He kissed her cheek one more time before grabbing his keys and heading out.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Jack met Teal’c, Daniel, and Vala in the infirmary. Once they were released and approved to leave the mountain Jack loaded them into his truck. Cameron promised he would be right behind them.  
Daniel leaned forward from the cramped backseat. “How is retirement suiting you?”  
Jack shrugged. “I’m enjoying it so far.”  
“I am glad you have found retirement to your liking.” Teal’c gave one of his characteristic head tilts.   
“Does that liking have anything to do with a certain General Carter?” Vala grinned as she teased him. Jack still didn’t understand why Sam liked her so much. He just found her annoying.   
Daniel looked over at his wife. “I’m sure it doesn’t hurt.” He caught Jack’s eyes in the rearview mirror and smirked.  
“Not a bit. She’s really looking forward to seeing you guys.”  
“I was surprised she wasn’t in the control room when we arrived.” Daniel knew something was up, but he wasn’t sure what.  
“She’s a bit busy so I was assigned to chauffeur you today. She’ll meet us at the house” Jack glanced back in the rearview mirror again. “Speaking of houses, we’ve found a few we think will interest you.”

Daniel thread his fingers between Vala’s, holding her hand lightly. “We really appreciate your help. There’s a lot to do and not much time to do it.” Daniel looked down at Vala’s distended stomach and smiled.   
“How far along are you?”  
“Seven months.” Vala ran her free hand over her pregnant belly as her son kicked.   
“Residing on Earth while your son is young is a sensible decision.” Teal’c looked back at his friends.  
“Sam is very excited about getting to babysit.” Jack grinned.  
“I still do not understand this Tauri preoccupation with having people sit on your children.” The truck filled with laughter.   
Jack and Sam had bought a two-story house on five acres outside of town, which meant a long driveway. As the truck went around a curve Jack skidded the truck to a stop when confronted by flames and smoldering rubble instead of the beautiful house he’d left less than an hour before. Jack slammed the gear into park and jumped out.  
“Sam! Sam!”  
Teal’c was two steps behind Jack. “General Carter!”

Daniel insisted Vala stay with the truck as he pulled out his phone. “We need a fire truck! I don’t know where we are. We drove past a McDonalds and a school and...yes that sounds right.”  
Vala leaned against the hood looking around in horror as Daniel talked to 911 and Jack and Teal’c kept screaming for Sam while tossing debris out of their way. After watching for several minutes, feeling a bit useless, Vala pushed off the truck and walked around the perimeter of the debris. She would walk a few meters, close her eyes for a minute, and then open them and walk a few more meters. She was near the back right side of their yard when she felt what she’d been looking for, naquada. Vala moved to her left, closer to the house, and the feeling diminished. She turned and moved towards the woods. As the feeling grew in strength Vala moved her head from side to side, searching the ground for any sign of Sam. It was the flash of blond hair that caught her attention first.

“Over here!” All three men looked her way. Jack was the first to reach her and Sam, followed closely by Teal’c and Daniel. Daniel put his arm around Vala as Jack and Teal’c knelt beside Sam. Jack rolled her toward Teal’c who helped gently lay her face up.

“Sam?” Jack put his fingers on her neck and breathed a small sigh of relief when he felt her pulse. There was blood in her singed hair, with drips dropping off her brow to the dirt below her. Her left arm was unnaturally bent. There was blood and scorch marks on her blouse and pants, but Jack wasn’t sure about the source of the blood. “Sam? Can you hear me?”  
Sam’s eyes fluttered but they didn’t stay open. Jack cupped her face and rubbed her cheek with his thumb. “Sam, can you open your eyes?” Jack moved his hands down her neck and spread them over her collarbones, which felt intact. “Come on Sam.”  
Sam’s eyes flutter again and this time she manages to keep them open. “The house.” Her words were barely more than whispers.   
“What happened?”  
“The shower is ruined.”  
“Yeah, sweetie. I think we’ll have to postpone the baby shower.” She sucked in a sharp breath as he checked her ribs. “What happened?”  
“There was an explosion of some type.” Her watery blue eyes met his brown ones. “They tried to kill me again.”   
“I can see that.” His hands made it down to her hips.  
“I’d gone out to cut some flowers to put on the table.” She closed her eyes. “I can’t survive this.”

Jack’s eyes shot back up to hers. “You’re going to be fine. Daniel already called 911. Help will be here soon.”  
Sam reached down with her right arm and grabbed his wrist. “They need to think I’m dead.”  
“Sam…” Jack looked at her trembling lower lip. “You need to go to the infirmary.”  
“I can’t be seen alive, not until we figure out who ordered this.”  
“Your arm’s broken and you’ve got a couple broken ribs, along with whatever is wrong with your head. You need medical treatment.”  
Cameron ran up behind them. “What the hell happened?”  
Jack glanced back at Cameron before focusing back on Sam. “Can you trust Lam?”  
“Absolutely.” Sam swallowed, holding back a moan of pain. 

Jack looked over at Cameron. “Find a board large enough to lay her on.” Cameron ran off as Jack looked back down at Sam. “We’ll get you out of here and have Lam come take care of you.”  
Sam released a shuddering sigh of relief. “Thank you.”  
Cameron arrived with a board and laid it between Sam and Teal’c. Jack put his hands on Sam’s broken left arm. “I’m going to put your arm on your chest.” His facial muscles tightened. “This is going to hurt.” Sam braced herself. She grimaced and moaned as he gently lifted her arm and laid it over her chest. She used her right arm to hold her left arm in place.   
He let her get her breath back under control. “Teal’c and I are going to roll you towards me and he’s going to put the board behind you.”  
“Ok.” Sam closed her eyes and braced herself for the pain. Jack put his hands on her shoulder and hip, slowly pulling her towards him. Teal’c placed the board behind her and together they lowered her. Although she didn’t make a sound there were tears running down her cheeks. Jack wiped them from her cheeks before looking back up at Cameron.

“There’s a cheap motel on West Avenue. Once you get there, call Lam and have her meet you. Don’t let anyone other than us or Lam inside.”  
“Got it.” Teal’c and Cameron carried Sam to Cameron’s truck, sliding the board into the back. Teal’c got in the back with her.  
Jack looked up at Teal’c. “I’ll meet you there as soon as I deal with the firefighters.” Jack looked over at the driveway. “You better get out of here if you want to avoid them.”  
Teal’c hit the side of the truck and Cameron slowly pulled out, trying to minimize the jostling. As soon as the truck was out of sight Jack turned back towards Daniel. “We need to be searching the debris when the firefighters get here.”  
“What?” Daniel looked back at the smoldering house. “Why?”  
“They have to think we’re looking for Sam.”  
“Right.” Daniel looked at Vala. “You stay here.” She nodded her understanding and leaned back against Jack’s truck. Her hands absently rubbed her belly as she watched Jack and Daniel pretend to search for Sam.   
Two fire trucks and an ambulance pulled up at the house two minutes after Teal’c and Cameron had left. The firemen started dousing the flames while the EMTs made sure Jack, Daniel, and Vala were all uninjured. 

By the time the flames were out two military trucks had arrived. Colonel Eads approached the fire captain and spoke to him for a few minutes before heading towards Jack.  
“Sir, we got here as soon as we heard.”  
“Thank you, Colonel.”  
“I informed the fire captain that the search for General Carter would be conducted by the Air Force. He’s unhappy but says he and his men will stay here for a while in case there are any flare ups.”  
“We’ve been searching for her but so far she hasn’t answered us.”  
“We’ll find her.” The Colonel moved towards his men to help coordinate the search effort.

Daniel carried a scrap of light blue wrapping paper out of the debris to Vala. “I think this was for you.”  
Vala took the paper from him as her eyes got watery. “Us.” She wiped a tear from her cheek. “Damn hormones.”  
Daniel put his arm around her and pulled her against him, placing his lips next to her ear. “She’ll be ok.” Vala nodded as she laid her head on his shoulder.  
They'd been searching for two hours and the sun was setting when Jack’s phone finally rang.   
“O’Neill.”  
“General Carter is in stable condition.”  
“Thanks, Teal’c.”  
“Is the search of your home still ongoing?”  
“Yeah, they’re bringing in lights so they can keep it up all night if needed.”  
“I see. General Carter is very important to the SGC, so this action seems prudent.”  
“Right, but I can’t really duck out and at some point, when they don’t find a body, we’ve got a problem.”  
“General Carter was also worried about that issue, so she asked Dr. Lam for assistance.”  
“Assistance?”  
“It is best if we do not continue this discussion over an unsecure line.”  
“Right.” Jack looked back over at the search teams. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

After another hour, the lights and generators were set up around the house’s foundation. Jack had taken a break to get some water and was sitting on his tailgate when Dr. Lam drove up. She nodded at him but didn’t stop as she made her way to Colonel Eads to report that she’d come to make sure the search team were not getting overheated or in need of medical care. Once she was done talking to Colonel Eads, she walked the perimeter, stopping to hand out water and protein bars from a med kit she had slung over her shoulder. For about five minutes Jack couldn’t see her but then she appeared again, still handing out water and power bars. When she made her way around the debris field, she moved to Vala, who was sitting beside Jack.  
“I’d feel better if you’d go get some rest.”  
Vala shook her head. “I can’t leave, not until we find Sam.”  
Dr. Lam tilted her head. “I understand your concern but there isn’t anything you can do here. When we find her we’ll call. You also need to think about yourself and your child.”  
Jack put his hand on Vala’s arm. “She’s right. As soon as we find Sam I’ll call.” He looked over at Daniel. “You should go with her.”  
“Are you sure? I can stay and help keep…”  
“No, there are plenty of people here. One more or less won’t make any real difference. Go, get some rest.”  
Dr. Lam gave them both a sad smile. “You can take my car. I can get a ride back to the mountain.”  
Daniel nodded and helped Vala off the tailgate. 

“Colonel!” It had been a couple hours since Daniel and Vala had left. Jack looked over towards the far end of the house, where the damage had been the worst. A young captain was waving his arms in the air. “Colonel.”  
Jack and Carolyn both moved towards the Captain along with Colonel Eads. “Captain?”  
“I found some hair and cloth, sir.”  
Jack didn’t have to fake his shock. Colonel Eads moved down near the Captain and looked over his shoulder. “I’ll get the forensics team in here. Good work.” Colonel Eads looked up at Jack, who had moved to the edge of debris. “I’m sorry sir.”  
Carolyn reached out to Jack. “Let’s go, Sir. There’s nothing else you can do here.”

Jack looked down at her before nodding his ascent and following her back to his truck. She opened the passenger door for him, knowing he wanted answers that she couldn’t provide until they were on the road. She pulled out slowly, unused to driving such a big vehicle.  
“Pull over down there and we can change places.” She did as he ordered. Once Jack had the truck headed to the hotel, where he’d wanted to be for hours, he glanced over at Carolyn. “What just happened back there?”  
“The only way to fake General Carter’s death is to have them locate her. I couldn’t get a body, but I did get some tissue and clothes that I was able to burn and plant in the debris.”  
“Clothes and tissue?”  
“I took the hair and tissue from General Carter’s scalp when I stitched her up. I also cut her shirt off to make it easier to splint her arm. General Mitchell helped me burn to make it seem like they’d been in the fire.”  
“Well, alright then.”  
Carolyn shrugged. “When they test the remains, they’re going to find General Carter’s DNA, which might be enough to let them think she was killed in the fire. It at least buys us some time.”  
“Right, good. How’s Sam?”  
“She’s stable but I’d like to get an x-ray of her ribs and left arm.”  
“I might be able to help make that happen.”  
Carolyn’s eyes widened. “Really? We can’t take her to the mountain or a hospital can we?”  
“No, but I know someone. I’ll make a call after I see her.”

Cameron was pacing the room and Teal’c was standing stoically by the door when Jack and Carolyn arrived. Vala was sitting on the bed beside a prone Sam, who appeared to be asleep. Daniel was standing beside Vala rubbing her back. Jack moved over next to Daniel while Carolyn went to the side of the bed opposite from Vala. 

As Carolyn took Sam’s pulse Teal’c addressed Jack. “General Carter informed us that she believes she was targeted for assassination because she is being considered to lead the SGC. She said there was a previous attempt on her life when the brakes on her car failed to funtion properly. Do you also believe these attempts on her life are related to General Carter’s consideration for leading the SGC?”  
“Yeah.” Jack nodded. “I do.” His jaw muscles twitched. “If we’d known there was still any risk, we never would have invited you to come back to Earth.” Jack looked from Vala to Daniel. “I’m sorry we put you in danger.”  
Vala looked up at him. “We know you would never intentionally put us at risk.” She looked back down as Sam moaned.  
“Jack?”   
Jack sat down beside Vala, putting his hand on Sam’s knee. “I’m right here.”  
“They tried to kill Cam too.”  
Jack looked over his shoulder at Mitchell. “What?”  
Cameron shrugged. “I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but I had a close call when I flew in for my SGC interview. Both engines died on me.”  
Jack looked back down at Sam as Cameron moved to the end of the bed. “If they’d gotten rid of both of you then General Hayes would have been the only candidate left to replace Hank.”  
“That doesn’t mean he’s in on it.” Eyes of doubt turned to Daniel. “He could just be a patsy.”  
Vala rolled her eyes. “Yes, well, patsy or not he can’t be allowed to take over, not if somebody is willing to kill to get him there.”

“If you guys hadn’t been late, we all would have been in the house.” Sam choked back a sob as she locked eyes with Jack. “We have to route them out.”  
“Now that they think you’re dead I’ll be their next target.” Cameron crossed his arms.  
“Cam…” Sam sighed.  
He shook his head. “It’s only fair. They’ve tried to kill you twice and they’ve only had one shot at me.”

Carolyn interrupted and got Jack’s attention. “You said we could get General Carter an x-ray.”  
“Right.” Jack stood, pulled his phone out of his pocket, and stepped outside the room. While he was out Cameron and Teal’c began discussing how to lure their assassins out into the open. All talking stopped when Jack walked back into the room.  
Jack looked down at Sam lying in bed. “Do you think you can sit up in my truck?”  
Sam nodded. “Of course, I can. I could use a little help getting up but then I’ll be fine.”  
Jack looked over at Carolyn. “I hate to keep imposing but can you come with us.”  
“I wasn’t planning to let you leave without me.”  
Jack saw Vala stifle a yawn. “Teal’c can you come with us?”  
He dipped his head. “Of course.”  
“The rest of you get some sleep.”  
Cameron pointed his thumb at the side door. “We reserved both rooms.”  
“Good thinking. You three take that one and we’ll come back here as soon as we’re done.”

Teal’c carried Sam to Jack’s truck, doing his best to minimize her discomfort. When Jack pulled the truck around the back of a vet’s office Carolyn leaned forward. “You’re kidding, right?”  
“Not at all.” Jack got out. “If we were followed, I can always say our dog was injured in the fire and there’s an x-ray machine here.”  
As Teal’c approached the building the back door opened. “Jack.”  
“Mike, thanks for this.”  
Mike eyed Teal’c and Sam as they moved past him into the building. “Jack? What’s going on? You said your dog had been hit by a car.”  
“Well, I don’t have a dog, at least not yet, so I was using code words where dog meant wife and car meant house.”  
“Wait, what?”  
“Someone attempted to kill Sam by burning our house down. She has some broken bones, but we can’t take her to the hospital, at least not until we catch the people trying to kill her.”  
Mike’s eyes were wide. “Jack, I know I owe you my life, but I can’t work on a human.”  
“That’s why I’m here.” Carolyn stuck out her hand. “I’m Dr. Lam, General Carter’s physician. I just need access to your x-ray.”  
Mike shook her hand and sighed. “Fine.”

Carolyn looked at the screen. “General Carter has three broken ribs and a comminuted fracture of her left humerus.”  
“Which means?” Jack looked from the screen to Carolyn.  
“It means she needs surgery.”  
Jack shook his head. “There’s no way.”  
“Without surgery there’s almost no chance her arm will heal correctly.”   
Jack rubbed the back of his neck. “Can you do the surgery?”  
Carolyn grimaced. “I would normally refer her to an orthopedic surgeon, but I could if I had to.”  
“If I got you the stuff could you do it here?”  
“Here?” Carolyn spread her arms. “I need an operating room.”  
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I do surgery here all the time.” Mike offered. “I may even have the supplies you need.”  
Carolyn's brow knit. “What?”  
“I have to pin limbs on a regular basis.” He looked at Sam’s anguish. “If you really can’t take her to a hospital, I think we could fix her up here.” He looked over at Jack. “But then we’re even.”  
Jack shook his head. “No, I’ll owe you.”  
Carolyn was very nervous about putting Sam to sleep using the equipment available, but she reluctantly agreed. Mike had more experience pinning bones so Carolyn let him take the lead while she monitored Sam’s vitals. Three pins and forty minutes later Carolyn finished the splint and removed Sam’s sedation. She woke just as the sun was rising. Teal’c carried her back to the truck and they returned to the hotel. 

Carolyn went back to the SGC, promising she would get some sleep there. Teal’c helped Jack get Sam settled before he took the bed closest to the side door. Jack climbed in bed beside Sam and was soon asleep. The four hours of sleep he allowed himself was enough to let him function. Cameron had gone out and gotten coffee and pastries for everyone, a nice treat when Jack woke. He and Teal’c went into the other room to eat, leaving the door between the rooms cracked open so Jack could see Sam. When she woke, he helped her to the bathroom and then got her some coffee and an apple tart.

“How do you feel about going to your own funeral?”  
“Always wondered what you’d say in my eulogy.”  
“I’ve decided I’ll be too upset so Daniel will have to do all the talking.”  
“Chicken.” Sam sipped her coffee as a twinge in her ribs made her wince.  
Jack reached out towards her. “What can I do to help?”  
Sam gave her head a small shake. “Nothing.” She let out a slow breath. “You know how broken ribs are.”  
“Yeah.” Jack’s lips twisted. “Sure do.”  
“So, I’m guessing you guys have a plan.”  
“You know we do.” Jack gave her a broad grin.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Jack patted Daniel on the back. “You did a great job.”  
“Thanks.” Daniel looked around the packed Air Force Academy chapel. “So, do you really think her murderer is here?”  
“Absolutely.” Jack forced himself to not glance towards General Hayes who was still talking to Hank. His colossal sucking up was wearing thin and making it even more likely that Hank would recommend Cameron for the SGC position. Jack just hoped they could solve this in time for Sam to still be considered. She deserved her chance.

Vala stayed with Sam at the hotel. Daniel told everyone she was exhausted from traveling and being pregnant. Cameron had gone back to the hotel the Air Force had booked for him, only interacting with the other members of SG-1 at meals and Sam’s funeral. They wanted to seem like a group of friends mourning a loved one's sudden death, without putting them at any more risk more than necessary. Daniel was being especially protective of Vala, which was annoying her, but Jack tactfully reminded her that Daniel had lost a wife once before. 

As the funeral wound down Cameron grabbed his chest as pain spread through him. Carolyn saw him bend at the waist and groan. She rushed over to him and tried to take his pulse as he turned white and slid to the floor. Teal’c, Daniel, and Jack helped get Cameron out to the hearse, which took them across campus to the academy hospital. Carolyn took control as the guys carried Cameron through the door. 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

“So how does it feel to join the recently deceased?” Sam’s eye glittered as she looked over at Cameron, who was propped up in bed.  
“It could be worse I suppose. At least we have the good cable channels.”  
“Oh, trust me, it could be much worse. I actually think you got off light.”  
“Light? They gave me a heart attack. Those paddles really hurt.”  
“I got my arm pinned back together in a vet’s office.”  
Cameron sighed. “I guess you win. This time.”

Jack came in carrying two salads and a bag. “Dinner is served.” He handed one salad to Sam and the other to Cameron.   
Cameron stared at the bag. “What’s in there?”  
“My dinner.” Jack pulled out a burger and sleeve of fries.  
“Hey, why do you get that while I get the rabbit food?”  
Jack grinned. “You just had a heart attack.”  
“A drug induced heart attack. There’s nothing wrong with my heart.” Cameron thumped his chest. He looked longingly at the foil wrapped burger.  
“Stop teasing him Jack.” Sam grinned.  
“Party pooper.” Jack got up and went back out to his truck and brought in three drinks and another bag, with a burger and fries inside. Cameron thanked him before tearing open the bag.

“So vat now?” Cameron chewed with his mouth open.  
Sam’s brow knitted. “At least swallow first.” She grimaced. “Watching you eat is making my ribs hurt more.”  
Cameron chewed two more times before swallowing. “Sorry.” He dabbed the corner of his lips with a napkin while he stretched his pinkie out. “What now?”  
Jack swallowed, not wanting to annoy Sam. “Now we let General Hayes take over.”  
“What?” A fry fell out of Cameron’s mouth. He had the grace to look ashamed when Sam glared at him. “I thought the whole point of hiding in this miserable room was to prevent that idiot from taking over.”  
“The best way to see who’s pulling his strings is to let them pull.”  
Cameron pointed his index finger and moved it between himself and Sam. “And without either of us there how exactly do you plan on keeping tabs on him?”  
Jack grinned. “You really don’t give me enough credit. Not only will Daniel be going back to work at the SGC, but Walter and Siler are keeping me in the loop.”  
“Walter does seem to know everything.” Cameron leaned back.  
“Sometimes even before it happens.” Jack agreed as he pulled three chocolate chips cookies out of his bag. “Dessert?”

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Jack went out twice a day, once to meet Walter and once to meet Siler, taking great care to not be followed. Even injured Sam was getting tired of just sitting around, especially with Cameron bouncing off the walls. Daniel and Vala were staying in the mountain while house hunting and Teal’c had gone back to Dakkara, so there weren’t any visitors to keep him entertained. At least Sam was able to spend time snooping through the SGC computer files using backdoors few knew existed. 

Within a week of taking over General Hayes had turned half the teams into pure military units, with no linguists or non-military scientists among them. Their orders were focused on procuring ancient technology. Daniel was most disturbed when a set of ancient ruins was blown to pieces as two teams looked for another ancient repository. They didn’t find anything, and several rooms of ancient writing were lost without so much as one picture. As the hunt for ancient storehouses of information continued Daniel got more vocal in his protests, asking that the teams at least take pictures so he could figure out what they destroyed, but General Hayes responded by having Daniel removed from the program and banned from the mountain. Thankfully he and Vala had picked a house and were able to quickly move in.

“Jack.” Sam showed him the memo informing the pentagon of Daniel’s firing.  
“Didn’t figure he’d make it much longer.”  
“You know he’ll be upset.”  
“It would be too obvious if I showed up at his doorstep.” Jack glanced down at her as he handed back the computer. “Vala will have to be his sounding board tonight.”  
“Why do you think Hayes is doing this?”  
“They clearly think there’s something they need in one of the ancient head suckers.”  
“But what?”  
“That’s what we need to learn.” He pointed at her screen. “You’ve got the best chance of doing that.” Sam got back to searching.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Jack closed the door behind him and sat two bags of food on the small table. “Siler thinks they’re looking for the plans to build a time machine.”  
Sam pulled up a few documents that had piqued her interest. “I’ve been running a program that tabulates how many times documents produced in the SGC have been viewed from outside the SGC. Generally, most documents are looked at multiple times within a week of being uploaded but there are a few that have been referenced consistently since being uploaded. Those didn’t interest me. It’s the ones that are older but have become of interest over the last few months that nabbed my attention.” Sam turned the computer screen towards Jack and Cameron. “This one proposes going back in time to stop the Goa’uld from gaining a foothold in our galaxy.”  
Cameron shrugged. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”  
“It would completely change the fabric of our universe.” Sam shook her head. “Nothing would be the same. It could be catastrophic.”  
“Couldn’t it also be amazing?”

Jack put his hand on Cameron’s shoulder. “There’s no point in trying to convince her. She wouldn’t even let me go back and put a bet on the World Series.”  
“Ok, so screwing with the timeline is bad, but even if that wasn’t the case can’t they just use the ancient ship we already have to do this? Why go looking for another ancient repository?”  
“We didn’t realize it at the time but that particular time machine has a limit of 10,000 years.”  
“Ten thousand total or in one direction?” Cameron’s head tilted.  
Sam’s smile widened. “Excellent question. In one direction, meaning the total time span it can travel is 20,000 years, ten to the past and ten into the future.”  
“And how exactly did you determine this?”  
“A couple years ago…”  
Jack shook his head. “Nope, that’s classified.”  
Cameron shifted in his chair and looked at Jack. “You’re kidding, right?”  
“Nope, fraid not.”  
“But I have the highest clearance known to man!” Cameron was hopping in his seat.  
“Not this high.” Jack looked over at Sam.  
“There’s nothing higher.” Cameron also looked at Sam. “He’s screwing with me again, right?” Sam shrugged but she had to look away since she knew Jack was pulling Cameron’s chain. “Ok, now I know you’re messing.”

Jack grinned. “A research team at Groom Lake got a little adventurous.”  
“Adventurous?”  
Sam scowled. “They took a few trips just to see what would happen.”  
Cameron’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”  
“Yeah, luckily that they didn’t stay anywhere long enough to get in trouble.” Sam sighed. “They were caught on video disappearing and reappearing.”  
“They didn’t turn off the cameras?”  
Jack raised his hands. “Right?”  
Sam giggled. “They turned the security cameras off the first three trips but their tampering with the security system had garnered some attention and the fourth time they tried to circumvent the system it didn’t work. They had set up their own recording devices as well though, so we still ended up with footage of each trip. They made three trips to the past and one to the future.”  
“Why only one to the future?”  
“They were almost busted on that trip. The security was a bit more than they had expected when they suddenly appeared in a research facility, causing quite a bit of damage.”

“So how did these illicit trips establish the time parameters?”  
“The ship wouldn’t accept dates outside the range.”  
“Ahhhhh.” Cameron’s lips tightened to a line as he thought. “So, whoever is looking for an ancient repository wants to go back more than 10,000 years?”  
“Probably around 200,000 years ago, back when the Goa’uld inhabited the Unas.”  
“Do they think they’re just going to show up and defeat a bunch of Goa’uld infected Unas?”  
“The proposal suggests using symbiote poison.”  
“Oh.” Cameron had no more snarky comments.  
Jack sighed. “What she isn’t telling you is this was seriously considered for a couple months.”  
Cameron’s eyes flew open. “What?”  
“Yeah, thankfully Sam pointed out that purposefully encountering the Unas at that point in our history might have brought us to the Goa’uld’s attention much earlier.”   
“Guess we wouldn’t have had much chance of fighting them off that long ago. I mean we were still swinging in trees.”  
Sam scoffed. “I wouldn’t put it that way, but I doubt they could have fought them off like the Egyptians.”  
“Ok, so you talked them out of it. Then what?”  
Sam shrugged. “Then nothing. I thought it was shelved for good.”  
“So did I.” Jack agreed. “But I guess someone else still wants to give it a try.”  
“The question is who?” Sam turned the computer back around. “I’ll keep digging.”

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

It was late. Jack and Cameron were watching a baseball game while Sam was still going through SGC files. It was storming outside and the loud rain and occasional lightning and thunder was soothing. Sam was exhausted but she knew if she laid down the guys would turn off the television and she didn’t want to ruin the game for them. She yawned and rubbed her eyes as she clicked a program she’d been running in the background. The results nabbed her attention.  
“I got it.”  
Both men looked at her. “You got what?” Jack could see she was tired and felt bad he’d been so distracted that he hadn’t noticed earlier.  
“It’s the Secretary of Defense.”  
Jack leaned forward. “What?”  
“I’ve been tracking where different documents were accessed from. He’s been very interested in the time travel documents for the last six months. He’s also spent quite a bit of time researching General Hayes’ background.”  
Jack shrugged. “Not unusual when you’re being considered for a high-level appointment.”  
“Maybe not, but you need to see what he found.”  
Jack came over and took the computer from her. She used the time to go to the restroom and get ready for bed. By the time she got out of the bathroom Jack and Cameron were ignoring the game and discussing the information on the computer.  
Sam sat down on the bed closest to the table. “Interesting, right?”  
“Very.” Jack looked over at her getting settled. “Clearly Hayes past and financial woes made him an easy target. I’ll set up a time to visit Hank tomorrow.”  
Sam yawned. “Good.” The sound of the rain and the feel of Jack on the other half of the bed lulled her to sleep.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

“Hank’s onboard.”   
Cameron was doing sit ups. “Fifty-nine. Good. Now what?”  
Jack looked down at Cameron and smirked. “We wait to see if they fall for it.”  
“Sixty-two.” Cameron kept going. “I’m sick of waiting!”   
“We all are.” Sam rolled her head, trying to loosen the knots in her shoulders. “Hopefully they jump on what we’ve planted quickly.”   
“Sixty-four.”  
“We all need to get out of here.” Jack smirked at the obvious annoyance in Sam’s voice.  
“Sixty-five.”

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

“It worked.” Sam smiled as she looked up from her computer. “The Secretary of Defense accessed the file I planted an hour after General Hayes opened it.” She typed a few more keys. “Three more people at the Pentagon have opened it as well.”  
Jack nodded. “We’re popular.”  
Cameron rubbed his hands together. “How long do we wait?”  
Jack sighed. “Let’s give it a day or two and see how far it spreads. In the meantime, we need to move on to step two.”  
Sam leaned forward. “No, Jack. You can’t.”  
“You know what has to happen now Sam. You knew it when you wrote that fake report.”  
Cameron’s eyes roamed between Sam and Jack, who were clearly having a whole conversation without saying a word. “What exactly is step two?”  
Jack broke his eye contact with Sam and looked over at Cameron. “As you know, the document Sam posted implies that I retained knowledge from the two encounters I had with the head suckers. Hank mentioned it when he gave General Hayes an orientation.”  
“Right.”  
“That means access to me is the next best thing to getting a hold of a repository.”   
Cameron copied Sam’s tense posture. “You’re talking about people who had no problem killing Sam and I.”  
Sam raised her hands. “Exactly! Thank you!”  
Jack sighed as he looked between the two. “I won’t do them any good dead.”  
“That won’t stop them from hurting you.”  
“Siler got word to Teal’c yesterday. He’s coming to visit Daniel tonight.” He zeroed in on Sam. “That means I’ll have Daniel, Teal’c and Cameron as back up.”  
“And I’m just supposed to sit here?”  
Jack sat down across from her. “Thought it was about time you got out of here. How would you like to pay Vala a visit while I make myself look kidnappable.” Sam’s lips pursed. “I’d also appreciate it if you’d monitor our positions remotely.”  
“By breaking into secure systems of course.” Her voice was tense.  
“Of course.” He gave her a small grin. “I promised Vala pizza and ice cream too.”

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Jack and Daniel sat on opposite sides of a chess table in the park. Cameron and Teal’c were hidden from sight but able to see them. Sam was watching their biolocators while she and Vala split a pint of mint chocolate chip. Nothing out of the ordinary happened while they played, other than Jack let Daniel win. When the game ended Daniel headed home and Jack went back to the hotel. This time Jack made a couple small efforts to throw off his tail but unlike the last few days he ultimately let them follow him back to the hotel. Teal’c followed Jack at a respectable distance while Cameron followed Daniel back to his new house. 

Cameron was happy to take the sofa just because it was a change of scenery. Teal’c was less comfortable spending the night sitting in a Suburban watching Jack’s hotel room. Sam hated hiding while Jack was making himself so visible and easy to follow. The next morning Jack took a leisurely trip to the grocery store. When he came out three men dressed in all black surrounded him while he was putting his bags in the backseat.  
“Gentlemen, how can I help you?”   
“We’re your escort.”  
Jack’s brows rose. “I appreciate your offer, but I need to get my groceries home, well back to my hotel actually.”  
“It’s not an offer. It’s an order.”  
Jack took his hands out of his pockets. “Well see, I’m retired now so I don’t have to take orders anymore.”  
Two of the men stepped closer while the man in the middle pulled his jacket to the side to show Jack his gun. “This will go down one of two ways, easy or hard.”  
“You get that you three are just a walking cliché, right?” Jack pulled his jacket to the side, showing off his weapon as well. “It seems to me a public parking lot isn’t the best place for a shootout if you’re trying to keep this quiet.”  
“Quiet is no longer a priority.”  
Jack dropped his jacket. “Right, so my vehicle or yours?”  
The man to his right stepped forward and took Jack's gun and patted him down. “Ours.”

Sam’s burner phone rang. “O’Neill has been picked up by three men.”  
“Alright, I’ll give Daniel and Cameron the coordinates and have them stay about a mile back. Don’t worry about staying too close. I’ll know where he is.”  
“I understand. I shall leave the phone on speaker as I drive.” Teal’c pulled out of his spot as the SUV with Jack in it turned left out of the grocery store lot. He kept them in visual range but allowed Sam to give him a heads up as the vehicle turned. Teal’c could hear her telling Vala what to tell Daniel who was riding with Cameron. The SUV stopped at a warehouse. Teal’c parked on the street where he could see the front and directed Daniel and Cameron to park around the back. The waiting was killing Sam, she hated knowing Jack was in there alone.

“Nice place you’ve got here.” Jack was pushed into a rundown office on the ground floor of the warehouse.  
“Wait here.”  
As Jack was looking around for anything he could use as a weapon the door opened again.  
“Welcome General O’Neill.” The Secretary of Defense entered with all three goons behind him.  
“Mr. Secretary, what are you doing in a gin joint like this?”  
“You don’t seem all that surprised to see me.”  
“Was I supposed to believe that the two top candidates to head the SGC just happened to die before either of them could be appointed?” Jack tilted his head. “Two assassinations like that had to be approved from pretty high up. There’s only a little higher than you.”  
“Yes, well, then I assume you know why you’re here.”  
“Not exactly. Perhaps you could enlighten me.” Jack leaned back against a rusty file cabinet and crossed his arms.   
“Don’t be cute. I don’t have time for your antics.” He waved to one of the men who brought in a chair. The Secretary sat down and glared at Jack. “I want to know more about your encounters with the ancient repositories of knowledge.”  
Jack shook his head. “You’re barking up the wrong tree. I don’t remember anything.”  
“I know that isn’t true.”  
Jack made no attempt to hide his sneer. “Do you now? Perhaps General Hayes shared some insider info with you?”  
The Secretary’s eyes narrow. “He did.”

“I know. I appreciate you sharing it with some of your closest traitorous friends as well.”  
“There’s nothing traitorous about stopping an enemy while saving millions of lives.”  
“Oh, please. Your real motivation is making millions not saving millions.”  
The Secretary scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”  
“Really, because as I understand it you weren’t planning on totally wiping out the Goa’uld. You were going to decrease their numbers and try to control them, make them do your bidding. You wanted the gold and naquada.”  
The Secretary put his right ankle on his left knee. “I don’t see the problem with wanting to financially benefit while also saving millions of lives across this galaxy.”  
“If the Goa’uld hadn’t removed people from Earth there wouldn’t be millions of people throughout the galaxy. What you’re proposing would wipe out the Jaffa, Tok’ra,,and thousands of societies.”  
“My experts disagree.”  
“Because you plan on stealing people from Earth and seeding the galaxy?”  
“If necessary.”  
“As soon as you make one change this timeline will be altered and you’ll have no idea whether or not you were the cause of the change.”  
The Secretary shrugged. “That’s the good thing about time travel, you can keep going back and fixing things.”  
“You’ll forget this timeline exists! You won’t have any idea whether you made things better or worse! People way smarter than either of us have made it clear we shouldn’t screw with the past!”

“And by people smarter than either of us I assume you’re referring to your deceased wife.”  
Jack focused his anger on the Secretary of Defense. “I am.” Jack leaned forward, towering over the Secretary. “Did you think attempting to murder my wife and burning down my house is going to make me more cooperative?”  
Jack watched the shock move across the Secretary’s face and spread down his body. “Attempted?”  
Jack slowly smiled, hoping his timing wasn’t too far off. “Yeah, she’s a lot tougher than most people think. They get easily distracted by her beauty and brains.” The door burst open. Teal’c and Cameron zatted the henchmen, leaving the Secretary of Defense scrambling to get out of the chair. Jack grabbed the secretary and dragged him to his feet. “Did you guys bring any zip ties?”  
Teal’c held out a pair before restraining one of the henchmen. “Thanks, T.”  
Daniel held a phone out towards Jack. “Hey, Sam. We’re all fine. Do you have everything you need?”  
“I’d like another hour, if that’s ok.”  
“Yeah, we can sit on them that long. You can have us transported when you’re ready.”

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

“Thank you for seeing me, Sir.”  
“You’re always welcome Hank.” The President moved his hand to indicate Hank was invited to sit on the sofa. “I assume this isn’t a social call.”  
“You assume correctly.” Hank held out a manilla folder. “I’m afraid the Secretary Defense was spearheading an effort to build a time machine capable of traveling back in time far enough to try and control the Goa’uld for his own purposes.”  
“That sounds ambitious.”  
“Very. He attempted to kill General Carter and General Mitchell so he could put his man in control of the SGC. He also enlisted several men in the private sector as well as a few men in his chain of control. We’ve made a list of everyone involved.”  
“I see.” The President scanned the information Hank had provided.  
“The Secretary of Defense and the men in his chain of command are already being held on the Hammond. We have not detained any of the private citizens yet, but we’d prefer to get them before they realize something’s up.”  
The President sighed. “Things get a bit stickier when we start rounding up private citizens that we can’t take to trial, at least not in an open court.”  
“I know but these men are counting on that.”  
The President nodded. “We’ll end all of their military contracts and see if there is anything else we can arrest them for, but for now leave them alone.”  
“And the military officers?”  
“They can be quietly court marshalled.”  
“The Secretary of Defense is technically a civilian.”  
“I’ve accepted his resignation as of this moment and I think he’ll be taking an extended vacation, perhaps the Jaffa have room to host him for a while.”  
“I am sure Teal’c would be happy to give him a place to stay.”  
“Excellent. Earlier you said he attempted to kill General Carter and General Mitchell. I assume that means they’re both fine.”  
“General Mitchell has no injuries, but General Carter broke her arm and several ribs when a small explosion was set off in her home, burning it to the ground.”  
“I see.”  
Hank checked his watch. “I will be meeting her to escort her into the SGC so her injuries can be tended to in the infirmary in a few minutes.”  
“Perhaps you can give her my congratulations when you see her.”  
Both men stood. “Yes, sir.”  
“It was good to see you again, Hank.”

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

It had taken Hank and Jack several minutes to get Sam and Cameron back into the mountain, since they had both been declared dead, without alerting General Hayes to their presence. Sam insisted on going with them to the General’s office before visiting the infirmary. Sergeant Harriman had made sure to keep the General so busy with memos and phone calls that he had no chance to get out of his office. Siler met them outside the General’s office with four security officers.

Jack knocked at one door while Hank opened the other door, making sure General Hayes knew there was no way to escape. Jack cuffed him before Sam signaled the Hammond to have Hayes transported to a cell, right across from the Secretary of Defense. 

“He didn’t even kick up a fuss.” Jack was definitely disappointed that it had been so easy to arrest General Hayes.  
Cameron smiled. “If he’d had a spine, he wouldn’t have gotten mixed up in all this.”  
“True.” Jack gave a sharp head nod.   
Hank moved over to the desk. “He didn’t even have the decency to get through today’s requisitions.”  
“That rat bastard.” Jack’s smile was muted. “Guess that’s on you then.”

Hank shook his head. “Nope, it’s not my problem.” He held out a piece of paper towards Sam. “Congratulations General Carter. You’ve earned this.”  
She took the paper from him and shook it open with her right hand. She scanned it, making sure the words on the paper matched his implication. “Thank you, Sir.” When she looked up, she saw Cameron standing behind General Landry. “I’m sorry Cam.”  
Cameron shrugged. “I always knew you were the right person for the SGC.”  
Hank nodded. “You should have heard him brag about you during his interview.”  
“Really?” Sam’s biggest smile lit up her face.  
“He practically gushed about you.” Hank turned towards Cameron. “You also shouldn’t feel too sorry for him.” He extended a folded paper towards Cameron. “The committee had a hard time picking between you two, so they decided to fill another position as well.”  
Cameron looked from the paper to Hank and back to the paper. “Seriously?”  
Jack and Hank were both smiling. “Actually, you two can decide between yourselves who wants which position.” Sam’s brows knitted as Daniel looked over Cameron’s shoulder. “Head of SGC or Head of Homeworld Security.”  
Technically the head of homeworld security was a higher leadership position but fewer people actually reported to them and the SGC was home to Sam. She bit her lower lip as she looked over at Cameron. She knew the thought of Washington wouldn’t excite him and she could function there. She felt Jack’s hand rest on the small of her back. This decision did affect him too.   
Cameron watched her impassive face but figured he knew what was going through her head. “You good with what you got?”  
Sam gave him a small hesitant smile. “I’m good if you’re good, but don’t just say you’re good because you want to make me happy.”  
“I think I understood that.” Cam looked at General Landry. “I think we’re both good.”  
“Alright.” Jack looked down at Sam. “Infirmary time.”

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Jack helped Sam out of the truck. “I’ve already called a builder. He’ll meet us out here next week.”  
“Then what are we doing out here today?” Just as Sam asked another car pulled up behind his truck.  
“We’re meeting our architect. I figured what better time to start from scratch and get everything we want.”  
Sam looked up at him. “I have everything I want.”


End file.
